Steelyard Blues

"I dunno nothing about climbing... except onto broads and motorcycles." --Peter Boyle replies to Donald Sutherland in a Brando voice when asked to climb into someplace to steal something.

"A '50 Studie!" --Donald Sutherland exclaims when he sees a 1950 Studebaker at a demolition derby, the only model he had yet to crash into in his derby driving days before prison.

Most, if not all, of the members of the comedy group The Committee appear in the movie and there's a great bit that defies description involving Hessman, his henchman, a sort of movie-prop housefront with someone pretending to be an out-of-control guard dog barking at the window while one of the others tries to hold him back.

I think Sutherland said in a Playboy interview that it was during the filming of this movie that Jane Fonda raised his consciousness.

Sigh, I never would have seen most of my favorite movies if it weren't for revival houses that brought this and other classic or off-beat movies back from time to time. Sadly, most of those theaters are long gone too these days.

Career criminal and demolition derby driver Jesse Veldini (Donald Sutherland) gets released from prison. His DA brother Frank Veldin (Howard Hesseman) just wants to keep him out of trouble. He reconnects with hooker/girlfriend Iris Caine (Jane Fonda) and his old friends. They decide to fix up a rundown PBY Catalina airplane. They do various petty crimes to finance the rebuild.

There is a confusing info dump early in the movie. This is trying to be an irreverent comedy but it's more quirky. It's down and out. I don't really know these characters' logic especially Jesse. He seems to be aimlessly searching for something that he doesn't even know. It's a bit muddled. It has the grim of 70's Oakland. I don't find this that much fun but these actors keep me interested. It's a borderline case.

I spent the entire Summer during the making of the film on the set/location of the film, and I would say that being thirteen years of age at the time, it was a heck of ride!!! I learned about racial tension on the streets of Oakland. The local African American population wasn't always crazy about the film crew's presence...lots of discernible anger and tension.I learned about how you try to shoot on location at a real demolition derby with a real live audience. It was organized chaos, and fights were breaking out in the stands and on the track....Peter Boyle was always making everybody crack up with his Marlon Brando imitations.....there was a lot of focus and preoccupation on getting scenes done correctly with pyrotechnics and explosions....hours of debate and preparations...

It was the end of the sixties, and the Vietnam War was going on endlessly with no end in sight....Jane Fonda was blackballed by Hollywood and Steelyard Blues was at least a paycheck.

A piece of Hollywood history during a very uncertain time....

A warm fuzzy movie from a stoned era. Rebels without a clue decide to flee the rat race in a surplus flying boat. A few problems rear their ugly heads. Like their being permanently broke, the plane needing some major rebuilding, and their inability to hold down anything approaching a full time job. Boyle is in fine form as the down at heel mechanic and the fight between him (knife) and Sutherland (felt tip pen) is a comedy classic. A fine goofy feelgood ensemble piece that plays like they busked it for laughs. It would probably seem quaint and a bit dated if I saw it now, but back in the 70s it was a breath of fresh air. With a faint whiff of hash about it.

... required.

Escapism grounded in grim reality. You just really want them to get away with it, and then, even when it's all going horribly wrong, they somehow do!!! Excellent early 70s vibes aplenty.

Sadly, Peter Boyle passed away today, so I should point out that his presence lights up the whole film. I can never understand why he never got more character parts.

I include this film with a number of other early 70s films such as Easy Rider, Two Lane Blacktop and The Getaway. Intelligent escapism, with a tinge of cannabis. Cannot understand why it doesn't have a DVD release, especially when many other, lesser, movies are brought into the equation. It deserves the whole extras/commentary/scene setting that Fear and Loathing got, after all!